A Fox's Wedding
by 999patientia
Summary: The Shigure Soen Ryu has only one successor but there were two different eighth forms of the 'Invincible Sword Style' so really, shouldn't there be two?


A/N- The story has nothing to do with foxes or weddings. It's just that Koreans and Japanese and I'm not too sure about Chinese, but anyway, those Asians believed that when the sun is shining but it's raining (this actually happens, it's really cool), the foxes are having a wedding. Not sure how that works... I'm still trying to see if I can get invited to one...

Also, this is NOT a YAOI fic. ...geez, the character options are Yamamoto and Squalo because they're mentioned the most in here. Everyone thinks they're the pairings...

How the story came to be: I like Yamamoto. I really do. Such a nice guy. The TYL Yamamoto has a scar on his chin and I wondered how he got it. I'm guessing from a mission? That's one half of why I'm doing this randomly-- to explain the origin of that scar. And I also like Squalo. Really like Squalo. In fact, I like swordsman in general. Genkishi too.

Other half is 'cause during the Varia arc with the Rain battle, Squalo defeated someone who already had his own Shigure Soen's style, right? Okay, then I thought: Cool. Did that guy have an apprentice too? Oh! If that guy had an apprentice and Squalo killed his master, wouldn't the apprentice want revenge? But Yamamoto defeated Squalo, so the apprentice would go after Yamamoto... But then I thought, how did the Shigure Soen sword style begin? I mean...it only had one form in the beginning so how...does that work?

And then, my imagination kept going on and on but it didn't exactly lead to an end... This might end up as a think-of-your-own-ending story. I hate those stories. I'll try not to end up with that unless I have to.

Up until recently I was going to keep the apprentice as a guy but then, I realized, all the swordsman are just that, swordsMAN. Why not a girl? Girls can be swordsman too! Uh...swordswoman! ...swordsman sounds cooler...

I guess this is kinda AU-ish. Like...one of the parallel worlds? You know, it was explained by Irie in the manga. ...if you guys are anime-watchers and didn't know about that until now, sorry I kinda spoiled it...

This is going to be a lot different from other stories... It starts at the end and goes backwards to the beginning and then epilogue. So if it's confusing. Don't worry. It's supposed to be.

...I wonder if anyone read all that...

Let's start.

Disclaimer- I don't own anything.

* * *

_**'If you love someone, don't die for them. If you love someone, live for them.'**_

* * *

It was pouring rain. It was cleaning the field.

The wiped out, battered field. Wiping away the blood, pain and damage...undoing the destruction caused by the two who stood there in the middle.

There were bits of metal scattered here and there. The trees gave off a dark glow, hiding the creatures in its shadows. The field or meadow or whatever it used to be was full of life but now it was tattered like the clothes on the back of the boy.

The girl's clothes were fine. She was unharmed. No cuts, scratches or bruises.

Raining...

A landscape turned battlefield.

A frustrated yell. A sorrowful smile.

A figure of a girl making marks into her palm. A figure of a boy clenching his sword stared at her.

She hated it all.

She hated him.

So much.

"Why..." she gritted out. Her eyes covered by her hair. She stressed out her words. "Why won't you fight back?!"

Surrounding the girl were ditches and holes and puddles. Her long hair, no longer pulled back by her hair tie, was streaming behind her back. Her clothes meshed into a single dark colour.

The boy looked at her sadly. He had cuts and tears everywhere, bleeding as much as the rain was falling. He was injured but strangely the girl had not a scratch on her.

"STUPID!!" she yelled. "MORON! IDIOT! JUST ATTACK ME ALREADY!!"

He stayed where he was.

There was no point to ANYTHING!! If she defeats him...while he doesn't do anything...

She glared and watched as the rain poured down the boy's arms, washing away the blood.

She hated the rain. It truly washed away everything and left nothing.

She felt water come up in her eyes. She convinced herself it was only water.

The boy continued giving her that same smile. Everything about the boy was just like the damned rain. She hated it. His smiles came to him simply like a raindrop. His feelings were expressed openly, unable to hide anything. His personality was able to calm others down and make them think things through carefully. The rain was melancholy and reminded people of the past... He was like the rain...

...unfortunately that smile of his wasn't dropping to the ground like the rain.

She started to feel the anger pool throughout herself.

She snatched one of the nearby swords, flung it at him with the intent to kill or at least injure.

He moved aside. The throw was sloppy and even if it had hit him, it would have done nothing. Nothing...

He continued smiling.

She glared at him with blurry eyes. She hated him. _Hated_ him. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry.

Why was it him?

Why couldn't it be her?

Why was she late to everything?

Why wasn't it her? Why was it him? Why was it him? Why was it him? WHY WAS IT HIM?!

Her knees gave out on her and she collapsed to the muddy ground. Her clothes were already worn and stretched out but not torn like his. She looked down and breathed heavily, ignoring the footsteps coming towards her.

It was stupid.

So stupid.

She was so stupid.

She knew it was a stupid thing and it was a stupid thing but what can you do when everything you were living for disappeared?

What could she do?

She couldn't turn back time.

If she could, she would have turned it back to the time when her reason for living was different, back when revenge didn't matter and she lived because she wanted to live for her precious person. Back when she lived for someone else.

Now, it didn't matter.

It didn't matter!

It didn't matter...

It...didn't matter...

She wanted to die.

Anything she did wouldn't have mattered.

She let out wretched sobs.

The boy stood in front of her. He knelt down to lift her face to meet her eyes.

She batted his hands away.

"I hate you..." she cried. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you..." She chanted that line like it was her only hope for surviving. She laid her eyes on his sword.

Shigure Kintoki... That sword won't accept her. She already knew she was rejected by it before even holding it...

The only one that she cared about was dead. There was no way he would ever accept her again.

She had no friends.

She had no family.

She didn't even have a chance to get what she wanted--

He had everything she wanted.

He _achieved _everything she wanted.

She wanted his life.

The Shigure Kintoki, Shigure Soen Ryu, defeating **that man**, having a father, lots of friends, a life...

She wanted it all...

The boy stayed as he was, kneeling, like her, only a few inches away from her face.

"Ryoko," he said softly. He almost regretted saying her name but he had to continue. He repeated her name again but she shook her head. The girl--Ryoko-- sobbed louder.

Her mantra changed from 'I hate you' to 'Kill me.' Whether she heard him or not, was unknown.

"I want to die..." She started pulling on her hair. "Kill me, kill me, kill me..."

He heard the faint calls of his friends yelling out his name. He didn't answer them back. He silently watched her cry. He would have given her his jacket if it wasn't already in tatters. He wasn't sure if he should say what he wanted...

His eyes hardened.

"Ryoko."

He grabbed unto her shoulders. She struggled but his grip was stronger. He continued to talk as she started to shake her head, ignoring his words. She didn't care if she was being spoiled, selfish, or whatever! She was tired of it all! So tired...

It was all **that man's** fault.

All his fault.

Why did he let her live?!

If she died that night, she wouldn't feel so much suffering.

She was going to cry again. No. Not cry. Just let the rain fall down... She bit her bottom lip.

Quickly, she wrenched herself out of his grasp and pulled out a hidden knife from her sleeves.

**_Die, die, die, die, die!! _**

With a flick of her wrist, metal met flesh.

The boy let out a sound of pain and clutched his chin. It was a deep cut. Blood dripped down, mixing with the rain water. A diluted pink in colour. It must have been deep for so much to come out and actually show the colour despite the water...

Ryoko hesitated as she saw him. He's wounded now... She should just kill him anyway. Screw everything! Who cares if he doesn't fight back? That's his fault! If he dies then, it's the same as her defeating **him**, right?

Her face twisted into agony. She gritted her teeth. She let the knife go and threw it to the ground.

Without giving him another look, she turned and ran. She ran to get away from him. Away far away...

The boy watched. He stood up and reached out his bloodied hand. He couldn't reach her. Not yet anyway.

She hated the rain so much but she was just like it.

Coming and going whenever it wanted... No matter how much you wanted to grab it, you never could...

The clouds started to break apart, revealing the sunlight behind.

And yet, it still rained.

His name was called from behind him. His friends arrived.

At first sounds of relief were heard. Then as they came closer they noticed the blood. With eyes wide, they started to question him; who did this, what was going on, how did this happen, why was he staying silent...

He continued to stare ahead.

So many wounds, so many cuts...and yet, strangely, none of them hurt as much as the hollow thud in his chest.

He smiled.

That relieved his friends...kind of.

It was an extremely sad smile.

He started to laugh, surprising the others.

He didn't know anything...from the very start. He knew nothing. He thought he did or he wanted to and yet in the same way, he didn't want to know. He wanted to stay ignorant. Everything was easier that way.

He kind of wanted to cry. Hah! He threw his head back and looked at the sky.

The sunlight started to hurt his eyes but he wanted to hide his own tears. The beaming rays of light...supposed to pierce through the darkness and help out in times of need...

He continued laughing.

This is a game. Such a hard game. The previous one...where they fought for the rings... Who knew that one match could have caused him so much trouble?

His friends only stared. What could they do?

His laughs started to sound like sobs.

"Why...can't you see me?"

Then, he collapsed.

* * *

Her clothes were getting torn from the branches, almost trying to stop her running.

But she wouldn't stop. She would continue to run and run and run.

Always running. Never stopping.

Back then, she was running too.

She couldn't do anything. Back then...if only she pushed herself... If she pushed him out of the way, he would still be living, right?

Back then, she should've jumped and pushed him out of the way.

And then, he could've survived, right?

She wished she could kill herself but he would never forgive her if she did.

He told her about the samurai back in feudal times and how they would rather commit seppuku than live in shame.

He told her that was a stupid thing to do.

It's because you keep living that things change. If you die, you die and that's the end. As you live, you change your surroundings and others around you. Who can say that you will live in shame for the rest of your life? Will you change yourself? If you can't, then that's your fault.

A root stopped and tripped her. She landed with a crackling thud. She panted and breathed in deeply. She clawed at the ground and started to sob once more. Her knees were bruised. It hurt but at least pain made her know that she was alive.

She didn't want to be alive.

It was sunny.

But the rain continued to drip down on her face.

She hated the rain.

Hated it.

So much.

It kept reminding her of **that man**...

She couldn't forget him. No matter what, she couldn't forget him.

She wanted to forget. She wanted to change.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I can't forgive him! I can't change!! I can't forget!!"

She let out a scream.

**That man.**

That violent, loud, crazy, psycho, arrogant, insane, lunatic, maniac, complete and utter--

She continued screaming.

The image of that man could never leave her.

Of course it couldn't. As long as the rain kept falling, she would keep remembering him.

His face, his hair, his figure, his height, his scent, his sword, his style, his voice--

Nothing could be forgotten. Everything about him was engraved into her mind.

She would kill him. Definitely. After that, nothing would matter. She would kill herself. It wouldn't matter if her master would forgive her. As long as she could see even a glimpse of him, it was fine. It doesn't matter. She already lost everything. She would kill him. As long as, she killed him it wouldn't matter. Kill him and everything would be over--

_"Go ahead and try."_

And then, that man's last words to her would repeat over and over in her head.

He left her there...

Alive.

For what?

Why?

Why didn't he kill her?

Why did he let her live?

Why was she alive while her master lied in a pool of his own blood?

To make it worse, that man already became second place. He was already defeated. He was already sent on the verge of death. Already, he was in a place that she couldn't and wouldn't touch. He was beaten by someone other than her.

And then, as much as she wants to kill said-someone, he wouldn't fight her back. Even if he did, she doesn't believe that she could ever kill him herself.

Because she already loves him so much.

It wasn't fair. She only wanted one thing. She was fine with that one thing. At least in the beginning it was fine.

And then, once she met him, she started to want more and more and more...

She covered her face with her hands.

"...I want to die."

* * *

**Prologue- End**


End file.
